Batam - The historic building of the Quan Am Tu Pagoda, located in the former Vietnam refugee camp, Galang Island, was on fire, Wednesday (10/3/2021).

There were rumors that ODGJ (People With Mental Disorders) deliberately burned the pagoda, but the Galang Police Chief, AKP Herman Kelly, denied this.

New facts about the cause of the fire were revealed. Head of Section (Kabid) of Enforcement of the Directorate of Security (Ditpam) of BP Batam, Kurniawan, said the fire came from a burning candle and fell to the floor of the pagoda.

"From the results of interviews with pagoda employees, the fire occurred because the prayer candles fell to the floor and the fire began to spread to flammable areas," explained Kurniawan when contacted, Wednesday (10/3/2021).

Initially, the fire in the historic pagoda was discovered by one of the officers who wanted to clean the area of ​​the house of worship.
Seeing the flames getting bigger, the employees immediately contacted the fire department, Ditpam, and the local police.

"The condition of the pagoda area burned down, to be precise in the prayer room," added Kurniawan.

So far, it is not known what action to take on this historic site.